Artists
Akiko Shikata (志方あきこ)
Akiko Shikata is a singer/songwriter/arranger, who has worked on such games as “Shadow Hearts From the New World” and “Ar Tonelico”. Her first mini album on the Hats label, “Navigatoria”, showcases her unique singing talents meshed with ethereal melodies. She will be at the next Comic Market, Comiket 70, on August 8th, 2006 at Tokyo Big Sight with her circle, VAGRANCY.
Angela Aki (アンジェラ・アキ)
The product of a Japanese father and Italian-American mother, Angela Aki was raised in Japan, but moved to Hawaii when she was 16 years old. She is completely bilingual. Her big break in the Japanese market was the indies album, “ONE”, which topped Japanese indies charts in 2005, and also got the attention of Nobuo Uematsu, famous composer for the “Final Fantasy” game series.
This prompted a collaboration between Uematsu and Aki to write the theme song for “Final Fantasy XII”, “Kiss Me Good-Bye”. Her debut album on the Epic Records label came out in 2006 and reached #2 on the Japanese charts. Her influences are Fiona Apple and Sarah McLachlan.
Utada Hikaru (宇多田ヒカル)
Probably one of the most recognizable names in Japanese Pop music, “Hikki”, as her fans call her, was born in NY. As such, she is bilingual.
After her debut on the music scene in the U.S. as “Cubic U”, Hikaru moved to Japan to launch her famous career. She recently came back to the U.S. to work with famous hip-hop producer, Timbaland, on “Exdous”, which did not sell anywhere near the same as her Japanese albums.
“Hikki” is best known in the game community for her theme songs to the two “Kingdom Hearts” games by Square Enix and Buena Vista, “Hikari” (English Version: “Simple and Clean”), and “Passion” (English Version: “Sanctuary”).
